Thursday, April 3, 2008

Props go out to CONCACAF and the local organizers for doing a bang up job of promoting this tournament here in Juarez. There is conspicuous signage and billboards around the city advertising the tournament and the media coverage has been excellent. The awesome crowd last night for the Mexico-Jamaica game surely played a big part in Mexico's dominating victory and the USA-Mexico match on Sunday afternoon - the USA's first-ever meeting with Mexico in Mexico - is surely shaping up to be a special game. We'll have to wait and see how many U.S. fans will make the trip over the border to support their team, but they will have to be in full throat to match the enthusiasm of the Mexican fans. Needless to say, Mexico's 8-1 win was big news with the local media, producing one headline that read "MASACRE TRICOLOR" which pretty much says it all. Since Mexico's men failed to qualify for the Olympics, the women's team has generated some additional interest as the fans and media want to see if the women can do something the men could not, a story that would certainly be unique for Mexican soccer.

About U.S. Soccer

As the governing body of soccer in all its forms in the United States, U.S. Soccer has helped chart the course for the sport in the USA for more than 90 years. In this time, the Federation’s mission statement has been very simple and very clear: to make soccer, in all its forms, a preeminent sport in the United States and to continue the development of soccer at all recreational and competitive levels.